The 2023-24 NBA Conference Finals starts tonight and before the games get underway I want to share my thoughts. But because I don’t want to spend that much time on it, I will simply stick to bullet points. Who are you cheering for?
Just when you are about to be out, they pull you back in. That’s what the Toronto Raptors did to me last night.
My overall interest in the Raptors this season has been moving further and further into the background. The past few months has been a rollarcoaster of good, bad and really ugly moments. The faces keep changing. The losses are piling up. Everything is leading to a rough end to the season and ending up in the lottery, where they may not even have a pick.
But last night, I felt a glimmer of hope. I felt a real interest in this group. I actually watched most of the game and cared about the outcome.
This is not a real interview with Mike Breen, however it is me seeing how realistic ChatGPT can be. Spoiler alert, it’s pretty good.
For those not familiar with Mike Breen, he is an American play-by-play sports commentator. He has been the lead announcer for NBA games on ABC and ESPN since 2006, including the NBA Finals. He is also the lead announcer for New York Knicks games on the MSG Network. Breen previously called NFL regular season games for both NFL on Fox and NFL on NBC, as well as New York Giants preseason games.
You most likely know him for yelling “BANG”, when a player hits a big shot.
Why did I choose to fake interview Mike Breen? Well, he is a well-spoken guy with a distinct voice and style and I figured that would be a good kind of person to use ChatGPT with.
So without further explanation, here is my fake interview with Mike Breen.
Pretty bold way to start a Thursday right? Hope you have had your coffee. I’ve been holding back some feelings. As we near today’s trade deadline at 3pm EST, I am hopeful that we have some clarity on what this team is and will become. Because, watching what the current product is as a whole from on the court, to the broadcast and even the social media discourse, has become unenjoyable.
Let’s start with the actual team. In the past several months, any remnants of the 2019 title team has been removed. No more FVV, no more OG and no more Pascal. It’s clear how much we miss those guys due to how much we now focus on the Houston Rockets, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers. FVV, OG and Pascal became part of the family.
At least in our household, we talked about them like we knew them.
Well it happened. Like I mentioned yesterday, it felt like the time was coming. The Toronto Raptors finally pulled the trigger on a Pascal Siakim deal. He’s off to the Indiana Pacers for a less than thrilling haul of stuff. The 2019 championship team is gone. It’s really hard to believe.
So before I start to welcome Bruce Brown Jr. (if he isn’t traded again) and start to wonder who these first round picks can become, I want to focus on Pascal.
One of the truly wonderful stories, not only for the Raptors, but for basketball.
Despite my wife saying it’s been in a the news for weeks and weeks, it seems the trading of Pascal Siakim is finally here. It could be today or this week is my feeling.
When it actually does happen, that will be the end of the 2019 title team. All the players will be gone. The coach is gone. I guess the only pieces left are the executive team that built it all. Oh and We The North.
It’s hard to believe that in less than 5 years, it will all be gone and to be honest, the team has declined quite a bit since.
Now, things have looked a little better as of late with the trade for IQ and RJ, but still, look at what the team was in 2019. It was a perfect team. I think it gets overlooked at just how complete a team it was.
It has been an up and down season for the Toronto Raptors. Expectations were kind of high for this team, at least in terms of creating an upbeat culture again and some positive vibes.
The key to it all was the new coach that was hired before the season – Darko Rajaković.
To say it’s been a bumpy ride so far, would be an understatement. The good vibes have been certainly there and you can’t deny Darko is an upbeat and positive guy. He was dubbed early as a Serbian Ted Lasso.
For me it was April 3, 1989. It was a Monday night, I was allowed to stay up and watch my Michigan Wolverines take on the Seton Hall Pirates in the Men’s college basketball National Championship.
The Wolverines won in an OT thriller that I still remember quite vividly as I watched in the Corunna basement (which tells you, it was a long time ago).
Glen Rice, Rumeal Robinson, Terry Mills and ol’ Coach Fisher got it done it what was a Cinderalla run (even though they were a very good team). You always remember the first time you see YOUR team win the title.
